Writing in the Financial Times this week, Nick Clegg warned:
In the debate on banking union we back greater co-operation on various aspects of an integrated financial system: common rules on the restructuring of failed banks, shared principles on how to protect depositors, high minimum standards for the capital EU banks should hold and a strong European Banking Authority.
As for the second caricature, the idea that the UK is all about City opt-outs and financial deregulation, that has been out of date since this government took office. In reality, the UK has been arguing for tightening, not loosening regulation, and not for City opt-outs. We have put in place a bank levy, weighted towards riskier activity, which is higher in relative terms than in other big European jurisdictions. We have been purists, not deregulatory fanatics, on capital adequacy, where we think the high floor of the Basel III standard should apply to all systemically important financial institutions. We have also argued against EU derogations and opt-outs that other member states have supported. The UK will be constructive in discussions over regulation.
You can read the full piece from Nick Clegg here.
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4 Comments
Beward ? must work that into a conversation.
Not long ago the government rejected EU regulation of financial markets as being less strict than UK regulations, That argument led to us voting ourselves out of any real involvement in Europe’s decision processes. Now we find that banks have been flouting UK regulations for ages.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/12/eu-warns-britain-financial-rules
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8948470/Britains-veto-cant-stem-flood-of-City-regulation-from-EU.html
One wonders who to believe!
So Nicks two challenges are :
1.Get the architecture and rules right for financial services, for the 27 EU members.
Recent days suggest that the coalition government haven’t even got to grips with the rules and architecture of UK banking. But as ever undeterred, Nick wants to bite off more than the UK can chew, by adopting Europe’s 26 other banking basket cases as well.
2. Handling the consequences of deeper eurozone integration.
Handling the consequences of a deeper eurozone integration, is indeed a challenge. How do you convince the man and woman on the street ( x27 countries), that voting, democracy and sovereignty ‘is so last year’?
Try this link for the full ft piece, if the one above doesn’t work.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2612acda-bf7a-11e1-bb88-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fcomment%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz1zHXCn5mg